Causal association between periodontitis and hypertension: evidence from Mendelian randomization and a randomized controlled trial of non-surgical periodontal therapy

Aims Inflammation is an important driver of hypertension. Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease, which could provide a mechanism for pro-hypertensive immune activation, but evidence of a causal relationship in humans is scarce. We aimed to investigate the nature of the association between periodontitis and hypertension.